Hi... I posted a message letting everyone know I took mine out myself just a few days ago. Well, let me catch you up to date.
Just 2 days after I took it out ( myself) I was overwhelmed with the serious amount of bleeding that was taking place. I was (am) bleeding like I just had a baby. So, being that my OB/GYN is closed WEDNESDAYS I CALLED MY PCP to try to get in. I got an appointment fo rthe next day. ( today)
After admitting I took it out myself I was treated a little differently by the staff as I expected I would. I was told I probably tore soemthing when removing it. Seriously folks, I never felt anything tear, rip or snag.
Well, my PCP went ot do an exam and ofcourse it looked like a crime scene. ( sorry to be so graphic) He was taken back and sent me for an ultrasound right away. He explained that I might have to have a DNC to clean my insides out. Lovely. They did blood tests while at the dr's office for blood platelits (sp?) and they came back fine.
So, at the hospital, I had the ultra sound. I was freaking out. The thought of having a DNC was something I couldn't deal with because I am breastfeeding my 5 month old exclusively and she won't take a bottle. i was told they put you "under" for a DNC and no breastfeeding for 24 hours . ( to some that would be the least of the problems but not to me, my bond with my daughter is everything to me. ) While I was getting the internal ultrasound I was bleeding so badly the lady sent me straight to the emergency room ( after consulting with my PCP) So, once again I had to explain to the ER doc why I took it out yada yada yada. He did yet ANOTHER internal exam among other tests for my blood pressure and even a pregnancy test. He said I was not torn but it was the hormones ( not from the IUD but the norithindrone (sp) that had all the blood built up. 9 oh no.. it could NEVER be the fault of the IUD... noooooooo not THAT! grrrrrrr ) He also said that the side effects I was blaming on the IUD were most likely from the medicine ( norithindrone.. which is a birth control also BTW) and / or post partum depression. That's a bunch of crap. I couldn't be happier to have mt daughter and I didn't have any of these issues until after getting the IUD.

So ladies, the moral of the story is this.... DON'T TAKE IT OUT YOURSELF. The reason, the IUD can definitely rip you when coming out ( even though I didn't have that problem). The way it is removed by the Dr ( according to the nurse I asked ... is that they insert the same tool the put it in with so that it will "close" and become straight rather than shaped like a "T" so it won't harm you.

And for those of you who have had this problem with the bleeding I was told I could opt for a drug called "provera" which will stop the bleeding for a week or so all together, let it build up and then release. A "chemical DNC" if you will. No thanks. It is yet another hormone that will just cause me to "whack out" even more.

Also, I have just looked up some things on this excessive bleeding and what herbs can help me . Looks like I am headed to an herb shop tomorrow to see what I can find. Time to give natural medicine a chance and get my body back on track.

thanks for that informative post Fran, i am sure it will help people. Please let us know if you find any specific herbs that help you, the more info we have on here the better! Hope your bleeding subsides soon and that you start to feel better. It is bound to take a while to stabilise the body, but the more help we can give to our bodies in the way of good nutrition, herbs, water and NOT adding known toxic elements to our system, like alcohol etc, the more likely we are to gradually get back to normal. talking of that, i am just boiling up some roasted dandelion root to make a sort of alternative coffee - good for detoxifying the system generally...
st. johns root is thought to help stop levonorgestrel (the chemical in mirena) from absorbing and doing it's work, so i think that St. johns wort should always be the first herb of choice for anyone trying to clear mirena out of the system. (apologies if i have already told you that lol, i have the worst short term memory in the world and forget what i have said to people sometimes hehe)
anyway, good luck, please let us know how you get on:) x

I really feel for you Fran! You must have felt terrible being treated the way you were. Isn't it bad enough that you obviously reached a point where you could not tolerate mirena for one moment longer?? Isn't it enough that you were bleeding so heavily?? Why can't the medical profession show some sort of sympathy for people going through this crap? It seems to me that most of the people who have posted in this forum have not really been treated with respect by their doctors. Most seem to have been belittled by them instead. Surely we know our own bodies better than they do!!! I guess you can now be grateful that the damn thing is out and you don't have to face those people again. I hope the bleeding settles down soon and your body begins to heal and return to normal quickly. One word of advice regarding the provera - DON'T!!!!
Interesting info about the St Johns Wort, Kabel. It is usually used to treat depression and anxiety, so could be a good thing for people on here suffering side effects of mirena, not only helping relieve the body of the effects of levonorgestrel, but possibly helping with mood swings, etc.

I think you got a bunch of bull today. When I had mine taken out, the dr took it out with a pair of hemestats. It folds up on its on when pulled out. You pulled it out the same way the dr would have done.
Secondly, the hormone is the IUD. It comes in a pair, it is the reason you choose a 5 year IUD instead of a 7 year IUD. That is one of the stupidest things I have heard! It would be like saying it is not the car's fought, it is the gas's fought!
I wonder if your IUD was a little inbedded in your uterus and that is where your bleeding is coming from. If you had a cervical laceration from pulling it out, between 2 drs they should have seen it.
If you had to have a D&C you could talk to the anesthesia dept, they could give you conscious sedation which would allow you to continue to breastfeed. The meds are not harmful. I don't know how a D&C would help though. It may just take time to heal on its own. Hopefully tomorrow you will only have a brown discharge (old blood), keep everyone out of there! The more they probe the more irritated it will be, and take away the clotting your body is trying to do on its own. Hope this helps some. Good luck! Keep us posted!

Well, I began drinking the raspberry leaf tea, taking vitamins c and b complex and feel like they are all working. The bleeding has slowed to a normal period ( whew!) Thanks everyone. What a great group we have here!

Hi Fran74. It is so awesome to hear that your bleeding has slowed down. I was worried about you friend! Please keep us all posted on your progress! Thanks for the update on the natural cleansing too! I am going to try it as well! Take care!:):):)

Thanks so much. Well, after 2 days of drinking the red raspberry leaf tea and allowing my body to do what it must I am not even spotting! I feel amazing! I knew it would only be a matter of time before the hormones that made me bleed would be out. I am shocked at how I went from bleeding so badly they put me in the ER to not even spotting. I am soooooooo relieved!
Thanks for the support.